I thought I’d check and in and let you know where I’m at with my large-size shoe brand, as so many of you have already been enormously helpful, and it’s gathering pace.

Firstly though, I’d like to say thank you to the kind people at River Island, who gifted me this gorgeous button-front dress, and who have been working with fashion bloggers of all different shapes and sizes as part of their new campaign called “Shape my Style”. I chose this little black number because the waistline sits in the right place (miracle!) and it’s just as lovely with flats for day as it is with heels for evening.

However, I do need some BEAUTIFUL shoes to wear it with, which — albeit tenuously — brings me to my forthcoming shoe brand. I’m aiming to launch in Spring 2019, and currently, we are on schedule. In a few weeks I’ll be starting the social media channels and revealing the brand name (I’m not trying to be irritatingly cryptic or intriguing… I just have some legal odds and ends to tie up before I can do that).

(NOTE: Not my shoe brand featured in the picture above)

In June I flew to Portugal — armed with the survey responses of a thousand shoe-less women (thank you!) — for meetings with shoe factories, mould-makers, leather tanneries, embellishment stores and packaging manufacturers. When I started this journey, I’d originally fantasised about having an all-British-made label, but sadly — bar a couple of men’s factories and a children’s shoe manufacturer — there just aren’t factories in this country making shoes anymore. It was an incredibly exciting and fruitful trip though, and I fell madly in love with the world of footwear and the people who make it. I decided on two different factories because they each specialise in particular types of shoes. As soon as I visited them, I knew immediately that they were perfect; the working conditions were great, the people were incredibly friendly and “got” what I was envisaging, and they are already working with some of the most desirable shoe brands in the UK. In Portugal, shoe-making is a craft; an art-form, and I witnessed the passion from both of the family-run businesses I’m going to be working with.

I’ve not drawn the shoes myself (you’ll be relieved to hear) but I’ve been working with a talented (and patient) shoe designer who has worked for many years with other shoe brands; (think shops you would LOVE to shop in if your feet weren’t so big). I knew she was the one when she told me she’d actually designed one of the shoes on my mood board. I gave her some detailed briefs for different styles and we worked together from thumbnail sketches to the finished product. Each of the styles is on-trend (but not in a faddy way), flattering for a long foot, and supportive enough for a tall physique (but not ugly supportive… urgh… none of that…)

My first protoype arrived two weeks ago and I literally screamed (and may have cried) when I opened the box. I’ve just never fallen in love with a pair of shoes before, and I immediately took them for a spin and out that night with my uni mates (who are now all getting foot-enlargements… obvs!) Sidenote: I’ve since been told that I shouldn’t have worn them out, that they were merely a “visual” sample before the actual samples, and that the inner wooden heel could have snapped and given me a broken ankle. But… meh… they were pretty.

It’s particularly important to me (and the business) that the fit of the shoe is just right. Naturally everyone has different shaped feet, but I’m working with a footwear technologist (who consults for one of the most covetable and respected shoe brands in the UK — again, sorry to sound cryptic!), to make sure that each shoe is proportioned and fitted correctly. I’ll also be conducting fit sessions in London with potential customers (that’s you!) over the next few weeks. I’m looking for volunteers, so if you’d like to get involved, keep your eyes on the Facebook page for updates. (I have posted a request on there for standard width size 43 wearers — thanks so much to everyone who has emailed already. Head there for more information if you’d like to get involved too).

I know there may be lots of questions — I’m guessing about price?! — which I’ll be able to answer officially over the next few months. As someone who’s only too aware that tall girls pay a lot more for their shoes, I’m working to keep the prices as low as possible. The shoes are in line with what I’d call ‘premium highstreet’ prices, but the quality is designer-worthy. Beautiful leathers, handcrafted shoes and supportive soles; not the mass-produced flimsy stuff of the lower end of the highstreet, that tend to fall apart when a six-footer wears them anyway. These are shoes to treasure. And they will be honestly priced… I’m running a business, but I also know what it’s like to be a tall girl who needs shoes!

I hope that keeps you in the loop, and doesn’t sound like I’ve missed anything major. I want to take you on this journey with me, and I want to be as transparent as possible, and create a really lovely, loyal community around the brand. So please feel free to ask any questions in the comments section, and I’ll answer any that I’m able to. Your words of encouragement so far have meant absolutely everything to me, and I just want you to open one of my shoe boxes and feel like I did two weeks ago. If that happens, I know it will all be worth it 🙂

L x

Outfit Details: Dress is from River Island (This has been gifted, but I chose it myself and was not paid to feature it). My bag and boots are from New Look (last season), sunglasses are Accessorize and Matilda’s little rose-print dress was 4 quid from H+M.

This photo always makes me a smile. It’s taken after a Taylor Swift concert, with Lena Dunham awkwardly tagged on to the end of a supermodel scrum. As a six-footer, you might think I relate more to Gigi and Lily (perfect abs and million dollar paycheques aside). But I don’t. I relate to Lena. Because I always feel a bit like the odd one out. I’m a Lena in a short-girl world.

I was hesitant to write this post, as I am conscious of the fact that I am a white, privileged, cis-gendered, able-bodied woman who probably needs to STFU. But normally my blog is all about the positive, and I’d feel like a bit of a fraud if I pretended that everything is 24/7 rainbows and unicorns in my head. And while I love being tall (we’ll save that for the all important, moral-of-the-story conclusion, fear not) there are times when I’m certain my mental health has taken a few knocks for it.

I can’t quite remember when I became aware that I was different. But I certainly don’t ever remember feeling the same as everyone else. In ballet I was a foot above my peers, and from primary school I would ALWAYS know where I stood in a height line-up (‘seeya later girls… I’ll be down there heading up the boys’ division’). Having to squash down into group photos, not being able to swap clothes with friends, wishing I could buy clothes and shoes easily on shopping trips (but still sitting in Tammy for hours while everyone tried stuff on…) is going to make you feel a bit alienated, however amazing your mates are.

When puberty hit and growth-spurts collided with an interest in boys, the imagined space between my friends and I seemed to widen. I wasn’t the ‘fall in love with whoever the f*ck you like’ girl at 13, and was adamant my prospective boyfriend should be taller than me. As such, I felt like I had depressingly few options compared to my friends. I even used to look at celebrities’ heights in Sugar and Bliss magazine and try to work out who was acceptably tall enough to fancy (Bryan from Westlife if anyone is interested. I mean… BRYAN?! Jeez.)

It took me a long time to feel ‘sexy’; I just never felt like that was a word that applied to someone who had felt so gawky and awkward for so long. Sexy was something other people were; petite women in high heels with dinky feet and small features.

Despite having a lot of incredible friends, I’ve often felt a little ‘on-the-outside’. I don’t think I’ve ever visibly been an outsider, and my school/uni friends — many of whom remain my best friends today — certainly never made me feel like this, but I did. I appear on the surface to be a very confident and outgoing person, but — while my skin has grown thicker over the years — most of this has been a bit of a facade. I have simply disguised my insecurities in a different way. I wasn’t the shy ‘loser’ in the playground. I acted overly-confident, the class-clown, the drama queen. And I can think of a few occasions when I let my insecurities and jealousy get the better of me and I acted a bit spitefully.

I feel certain that this sense of ‘otherness’ contributed to the anxiety I’ve felt for a lot of my life, and the eating disorder I experienced in my late teens (I finally felt as ‘light’ and ‘dainty’ as my friends, despite being cold, hungry and beyond miserable).

I no longer feel the great despondency I felt about my body back then, but there are still occasions when I feel a bit conscious of the difference between me and my friends; going out and not hearing half the conversations that they’re having a foot below me at the bar for instance, or always being the odd-one-out in a wedding photo. (First world problems I’ll admit).

The difference now is (here comes the predictable conclusion you were waiting for), that I try to celebrate my uniqueness. I now own my tallness. I exaggerate it with four inch heels and genuinely feel special because of it. Plus I’ve found you. It’s one of the main reasons why I started a blog and one of the very best things about the evolvement of the tall community online. That sense that you are not alone. Now — thanks to the magic of Instagram and Facebook — we can share in the daily experience of being tall with people who absolutely get it.

As I write, I’m still not sure whether to share this. It seems so indulgent when one of my best friends is awaiting a kidney transplant for her two year-old, and another is in a wheelchair because of Lyme Disease. But it may well resonate with someone; someone who feels like an outsider themselves and hasn’t yet managed to conquer it. I suppose everyone feels a bit left out at one time or another. We’ve all got something, right? The heart-wrenching pain of infertility when all you hear are birth announcements from happy friends. The inability to just get on a damn tube with your mates when you’re stuck in a wheelchair. (And no, I am not in ANY WAY comparing my predicament with these).

I can’t be the only one who has had these feeling before, so please feel free to join in the conversation below. Let’s continue to build each other up, have each other’s backs, and make each other feel wonderfully, weirdly, extraordinarily… normal.

Can we talk about shoes? If you have what you consider to be larger-than-average feet, I want to know how easy or difficult you find it to buy shoes, where you’re getting them, and what you DREAM of wearing on them.

I would love you to the moon and back if you could fill out one of these surveys for me here. It will take five minutes and at the very least will inform how I write about footwear on All the Tall things, but will hopefully establish the viability of a shoe business I’ve been dreaming of creating since I started All the tall things. I’m sure there must be other women out there, who — like me — are tearing their hair out when it comes to buying shoes to match a wedding outfit or finding a pair of flats that looks smart but pretty for the workplace.

I’ll be conducting focus groups and further sizing research at some stage so if you’d like to be involved, then please look out for more information on All the Tall things’s Facebook page. You can also contact me there or via Insta if you’re keen to play a part in other ways.

Flip. I’m writing a blog post. I often did have a habit of writing “sorry it’s been so long since my last blog post”, but this is testing your patience a tad. Thing is, I’m missing you and All the Tall things, so I thought I’d check in and give you a wee update on what I’ve been doing in the wilderness.

There are literally years to cover, so I’ve written this post in little bite-sized chunks so you can skip to the bits you might find interesting (apologies if this makes it sound a little bit like one of those super-cringe, round-robin letters that your mum’s friend sends her at Christmas time).

What? It’s been like twenty years. I must be dead.

Well, not quite. I am in awe of these ‘Insta-mums’ who can run successful blogs, manage businesses, raise children and whip up fish pies at the end of the day, but in my life, something just had to give. And unfortunately, that was All the Tall things.

I have been ridden-with guilt about it at times, feeling like I’d thrown away a big part of my life and identity. But I just couldn’t dedicate the amount of time required to make it worthy of your readership. You deserve quality, highly researched material, and after building up such a lovely loyal following, I just wasn’t interested in quick paid advertisements or features by brands and companies I didn’t truly believe in. That’s not to say I won’t monetise it further in other ways in the future, or that there isn’t SUCH potential for business in the tall fashion area (more on that in my next blog-post).

Besides, it’s all too easy to catastrophize. It was and continues to be an important and wonderful part of my life. I’ve just been putting it on ice for a while as I look after my very young family. As my spare time has dwindled, I’ve had to concentrate on my (now part-time) dayjob, while taking on a few select freelance projects.

Babies!

Yup, I’ve shot more out since my last post.

Matilda is three-years-old now. She’s stubborn, determined, crazy confident, ludicrously opinionated about her clothes (the more pink, garish, glittery and ugly cartoon characters featured the better), never listens to a word I say (parenting book suggestions welcome!), but she is so.damn.happy all the time (ahem… most of the time) and her enthusiasm for just about everything is infectious.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaOYDBbj6I1/?taken-by=laura_schof

And then there’s little Arthur. Or not-so-little, because having just turned one he’s in his 18m-2 year clothes already with edible thighs a wrestler would envy. And his eyes. I am beyond powerless in the face of those baby blues. I did consider breastfeeding him until he was 19, so that no other woman would ever be good enough for him, but alas, his teeth got the better of me.

ASOS has been an absolute Godsend. I genuinely feel that in the years since I’ve been writing and researching for this blog, nothing has made the impact that ASOS Tall has on the landscape of Tall fashion. It’s not perfect, (there are a few quality issues and occasionally things aren’t quite the right length) and yes, at least 50% of my shopping does go back every time, but the free deliveries and returns make that slightly less irksome.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcLQ2ODjILl/?taken-by=laura_schof

The fact that they’ve actually had the insight to make “Tall Maternity” clothes a thing makes me love them a little bit more.

I’m also a lot less interested in faddy fashion. I was never a complete fashion slave, but I definitely did pay more attention to what was ‘en vogue’ as it were, and — perhaps because I’m getting older, or perhaps because I just do.not.have the hours in the day to pore over every fashion magazine — I’m choosing outfits based on what I love. Dresses that suit my shape and colours that appeal regardless of their trend-credentials.

Admittedly I’m normally at the softplay in skinny ASOS jeans, a baggy jumper and a top-knot, but I do share some of my slightly more adventurous choices on my Instagram@laura_schof

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfMFXTRlyi1/?taken-by=laura_schof

We’ve moved!

I’ve also moved house since we last spoke, and after lamenting the loss of my lovely Victorian fireplace and wonky floors, I’m now officially a convert to the New Build Tribe! Everything is so clean and shiny and spotless and… oh sh*t the kids have found the crayons again.

We’re in the process of decorating it and gradually turning a soulless box into a home, and you can follow our progress on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW7z4FMDvOt/?taken-by=laura_schof

Breastfeeding… (Warning: Not for the faint-hearted)

Last year I also completed a ten week course to qualify as a Breastfeeding Peer Support Worker. I had a really tough time in the early months of breastfeeding Arthur, with his tongue-tie and my partially retained placenta (that had to be surgically removed 10 weeks post-partum… lovely!), causing several bouts of Mastitis, nipple infections and supply issues. Had I not had a reasonably easy experience with Matilda I would have 100% stopped. Breastfeeding is not always “pain-free”, nor does it come naturally or feel normal to everyone. And I truly believe that until you’ve walked a mile in other woman’s boobs, you can never judge her feeding decisions. But now I volunteer once a week with the NHS at a feeding clinic (crazy kids in tow!) to help women who do want to breastfeed make positive progress. I’ve seen loads of boobs (a lot of them red and angry before my friend Mark accuses me of having the dream job), and feel genuinely moved and excited when we witness breakthroughs for the women who come through the door.

Basically, my point is, if you’re trying to breastfeed and are in pain/ struggling/ feeling overwhelmed, then get yourself to a Baby Café/ Children’s Centre drop-in ASAP and get some help from a trained lactation consultant. They really can help (and often have cake!)

Get in touch

While I don’t have time to write regular, scrupulously researched posts, I do pop the occasional update on my Instagram @laura_schof.

I have unfortunately experienced email spam of EPIC proportions, (anyone want to help me sort through 10,000 “Hot sexy Swedish chick wants your **** “/ “Prince Eduardo wants to give you 2.4 million pounds if you send him your bank details” messages? Please??!!), so the best way to contact me is via Insta. Apologies to those of you who have contacted me via my ATTT email during my time in the wilderness. When I eventually get through the mountain of chaos I shall reply!

Conclusion

If you are reading this, it really means so much to me. It also (hopefully) means that there is still scope to pick up where we left off when the madness of toddler-gate dies down, and that you’ll join me for other adventures that are ahead. I remain as passionate about fighting the fight for Tall women as I ever have, and if one person has gained a little bit of confidence from reading one of the posts on this blog, then all those years are definitely not wasted.

As if the ASOS Tall range couldn’t get any better, it’s now cottoned on to the fact that “tall” and “pregnant” are not mutually exclusive states in which a woman can find herself. There are several posts on ATTT that focus on long-length maternity and nursing fashion, and though I’m currently in need of neither (the onset of teeth at seven months left me with one less fashion problem to contend with), this ASOS news is very welcome indeed. Because while a lot of stores now carry a “Tall” and a “Maternity” range, very few have a range that offers both.

You can find ASOS’s Tall Maternity offerings here. The range is currently small, but thanks to some sell-outs (including a bump-friendly version of my favourite Ridley jeans), it’s set to expand.

Have you checked out the new TTYA collection at LTS yet? It’s definitely my favourite so far, so I was very grateful when the lovely LTS team gifted me this 70s inspired outfit combo, which has already seen a classy night out at Clapham Grand with the girls and a rare date night with the hubby.

The suede skirt (£85) is the perfect mini length on a tall girly, and having a black polo jumper (£50) with sleeves that I can almost hide my hands in is another #lifegoal realised.

The fashion choices available for extra-tall women like us have massively increased over the last few years, but there’s definitely still a long way to go. I would LOVE to see more of this sort of thing at LTS. Which brings me on to my next question. What would you like to see more of? Tall workwear? Runway-inspired evenings gowns?

If you get a spare minute, I’d love you to pop your LTS wishlist in the comments below. If you don’t mind, I’d also be really grateful if you could let me know your age as well.

L xx

P.S. This isn’t research that LTS has commissioned me to do. I just a) am nosey and b) think it’s a great way of getting our voices heard.

My daughter Matilda May Schofield is tall. This may comes as quite a shock to you all, what with me being a little over 6 foot and my husband 6ft4. When I announced my pregnancy on my personal Facebook page, a LOT of the comments (from well meaning and acutely observant/ comedic friends) were things like “Tallest baby ever”, and “Woop that will be one tall baby”. I’m sure any of you who have experienced pregnancy with a tall man will have friends who have made similarly shrewd predictions.

So yeah, she’s tall. Despite being born a reasonably weeny 7lbs 8oz (Thank.You.God), it wasn’t long before she hiked up the percentiles in her little red book and is now head and shoulders above the rest of the kids in our NCT group. At 11 months she’s into her 12-18 month clothes already, and I lie awake most nights hyperventilating at the thought that her cot bars might be short enough for her to climb over the top.

But parenting is a wonderful second chance at life. No, it doesn’t mean I’m going to live vicariously through my daughter, go all ‘momager’ and turn her into the Taylor Swift I should have been (sigh). But it does mean I have the chance to say to her what I wish I could have said to my old self. To help her celebrate and nurture this actually-pretty-blinking-awesome gift that she’s been given.

Anyhoo. I thought I’d write her a letter. And share it with you lovely lot. If you have any other advice you’d like to give her — or any of the daughters we Leggy Lovelies may bear — then I’d love you to share it in the comments below.

Dear Matilda,

Hey beautiful girl. So I suppose first off I owe you an explanation.

I could have been a bit more genetically selective and married someone shorter than your Daddy. Then you might be of ‘normal’ height. But your Daddy has the amazing cheekbones and blue eyes that I could never give you. And he’s actually quite lovely.

Besides, who the heck wants to be ‘normal’ anyway? I spent so many of my early years wanting the clothes that the cool kids had, the computer games the other kids played, to be the same height as the other girls at school. And why? Just to be like everybody else? Just to blend in? Is that what life is really about?

You’ll have moments when your height becomes a reason for people to put you down. Don’t let your insecurities make you defensive or respond spitefully as mine sometimes did. Everyone in the playground has something they feel insecure about. Their shortness, their tubbiness, their skinniness, their skin, their hair colour. Do your very damndest to rejoice in their wonderful qualities, even if you don’t share those qualities yourself. Don’t feel bitter and jealous about the cute petite girl. There will be people who wish they had some of your height too.

And if you’re being picked on, TELL SOMEONE. Tell me, tell a teacher. Because often the real curse of being tall comes in the fact that you always look strong and capable. It’s difficult to imagine a very un-little person being belittled.

One day (very far away) when you fall in love, make sure that it is with whoever the hell you want it to be with. And if that person is a man, then look for someone who makes you laugh before you seek out someone who is taller than you. Don’t write off 98% of the male population by only going after the latter. Hopefully by then we’ll live in a world where no one bats an eyelid at a woman who is taller than her boyfriend. If not, then you can be another exception that contributes to a change in attitude. Also note that Daddy will be able to destroy him whether he’s short or tall.

Don’t slouch. You’ll only look awkward and then spend ages correcting it in yoga classes. Walk like the world is your catwalk and be grateful that you have feet to move, even if they are difficult to find shoes for. It’s also your right to wear heels if you want. You can practice in Mummy’s.

I wasted so much of my first 16-or-so years praying that I’d wake up shorter. It didn’t happen. But I finally realised that even though my height wasn’t going anywhere, my attitude could. You will never stop being tall. You can put on or lose weight, colour your hair, make over your wardrobe, hell, you can even change your personality if you want to. But you will NEVER stop being tall. Take stock of what you do have and skip the ‘poor me’ stuff. It gets you nowhere. You may not be the cute, dainty little girl in the playground, but you could be the elegant, statuesque and strong one. Life is short, even if you’re not.

Have you got any long-length clothes or large-size shoes you want to flog? Want a captive audience for your items? Perhaps you’re after some second-hand tall fashion bargains? Read on…

I’m often getting requests for shout-outs from tall women who are selling their clothes on eBay and looking for a tall buyer. Unfortunately I’ve not been able to address all those individual requests, but it did make me realise that a central hub for buying and selling second-hand tall clothes is greatly needed.

For ages I toyed with the idea of creating my own online tall marketplace, but I’m… um… barely computer literate enough for Twitter, let alone creating my own blinking auction site. Besides, eBay is already a treasure trove of Tall pieces with a great infrastructure in place. You just need to know where to look.

That’s where the ATTT Facebook page comes in. I’m going to open it up more to you leggy eBayers and bargain hunters. Now you can all pop your long length items and large shoes on eBay, then place the links on ATTT’s Facebook page. Other readers of the blog can look for your postings (just click ‘posts by others’ on the Facebook page, and I’ll also point out any great pieces you put up from time to time by sharing them for you (as I would your tall fashion dilemmas).

ATTT reader Jane is already a major eBay stalker: ‘I find shopping for tall clothes online quite limiting as there are only a handful of retailers who stock Tall ranges, and understandably the ranges are much smaller than “regular” sizes and not updated that frequently. However I’ve started shopping on eBay and it’s opened up a whole new world! You can search by brand, by size and by price and there are pages of clothes from Topshop, ASOS, New Look, Long Tall Sally…. It’s not just second hand clothing either, some of it is brand new. I recently bought a brand-new-with-tags checked dress from New Look tall for only £12. I also use eBay to sell my clothes as my wardrobe is full of worn (but nearly new!) Topshop Tall items, which means that I make money on clothes I don’t wear anymore and can then spend guilt-free on new clothes from eBay!’

Obviously there is one very important rule…

The things you’re selling need to be tall-specific. This also means that they need to be long enough for women over 5’10. I’m sure it goes without saying, but please only use the page to advertise items that are long enough and cut properly for a tall woman. The aim is to create a really trustworthy marketplace in which tall women know they’re getting quality, longline second-hand clothing. It’s not a place for people to flog items because they’ve shrunk in the wash!

I’m selling some of my own items too. Since my 30th birthday frock is no longer available on ASOS, rather than list the details, I thought I’d put it on eBay for another tall size 12 girlie to enjoy (worn once but in perfect condition).

If you’re looking for truly guilt-free shopping, you’ll be pleased to know that the first £100 I make on Ebay, I shall be donating to Magic Breakfast, a fabulous charity that buys breakfast for school children who would otherwise go to lessons hungry. Look them up if you haven’t heard of them. They’re fab. I’m currently trying to raise £1000 for them by turning Matilda into book characters (you can see our progress so far over on babyinabook.com).

Leggy brand Taller Than Your Average has been bringing high fashion to Long Tall Sally since the end of last year. After a flurry of media hype and a certain Jourdan Dunn rocking up to London Fashion Week in a shirt from Long Tall Sally (who would have seen that coming?), the range finally landed, with burnout fabrics, catwalk-worthy silhouettes and a neutral colour palette made for mixing and matching.

But there was a lot of flesh on show in its lookbook (golly LTS… I can see her crotch! That is so unlike you!), and the looks were bold. There were RIPPED JEANS for flip’s sake. Which made me wonder: had LTS gone from safe and reliable to… a little too fabulous overnight? Were its pieces (that look oh so uh-mazing on super skinny Jamie Gunns) actually wearable for a regular tall girl? Could they even be (and I realise I’m stretching things a bit here) suitable for a 30-year-old mother like me?

Thankfully the lovely Alice at LTS sent me a couple of my favourite pieces to try. Let’s see how my roadtest went…

The Duster Coat has been a massive trend since the autumn, and since it is typically lightweight in style, works perfectly for spring’s in-betweeny, unpredictable weather. From my sweaty, under-the-duvet post-baby haze I lusted after the pastel blue number Kylie Jenner has been effortlessly sporting with jeans, dresses and just about everything else, so I was really pleased when LTS/TTYA released its own, especially since it’s a true mid-calf length on a six-footer. It’s super soft too.

After spending ages wondering how I was going to wear it (with a bra and knickers on Croydon highstreet perhaps?) I realised that it works best on me when used as an alternative to the cardigan or kimono. It’s more sophisticated and classic than either of those options too, so I reckon it’ll work well beyond the current season. It looks good thrown over jeans or a lacey festival dress and adds some decency and decorum to a shorts and vest combo (I am a mum now after all).

Got so much to share with you after a big long break, including my 30th bday outfit details, some other clothing pics, and a great way to buy and sell second-hand tall clothes coming shortly to ATTT. Stay tuned.

Last week on the ATTT Facebook page, I posted that a well known magazine was looking to feature a woman over 6 foot who weighed 10 stone.

It caused a bit of upset amongst a few of you; initially from ladies who believed that a 10 stone woman over 6 foot was dangerously underweight, and then from others of you who ARE that weight defending your natural slimness. It was the first time in the history of All the Tall things when we’d discussed weight rather than height, or at least, our perceived relationship between weight and height.

‘Weight’ is an issue that affects most women at one time or another, but I couldn’t help thinking about how it specifically affects women over 5’10. As someone who battled eating problems when I was younger (12 stone seemed so big when all my friends were a diddy 8 stone — It DEFINITELY WASN’T), your comments on Facebook really got me thinking.

When I was 19, at university, and supposedly having the time of my life, I became obsessed with my weight. I would write down every calorie consumed and chastise myself if I ever had a binge. I became dangerously thin. My skin went grey, my eyes went hollow and my periods were erratic. I would go out clubbing and be so cold that I’d go and sit in the toilets for half the night under the hand dryers. I would lie awake, starving, counting down the hours until I could have the handful of sultana bran I’d allow myself to eat for breakfast. I’d have huge highs of emotion followed by crashing lows. I was a dull, miserable and freezing cold shadow of my former self.

Why did it happen? Various reasons, some too cliched to even mention. But I can’t help thinking that my height may have given me a skewed idea of my own body image. I felt a lot bigger than my friends. I’d look at photos of me next to a 5’6 size 8 girl and feel huge. I dated skinnier, shorter men than me and wondered if I should be ‘improving’ myself by bring thinner.

Fortunately I was one of the lucky ones and came out the other side of it within a couple of years. I dread to think what would have happened if I hadn’t. A lot of people say that once you’ve had an eating disorder, you’re always susceptible to it again. But I know my triggers and how to avoid them; I never read magazines about dieting, I literally walk away when my friends talk about their weight, and most importantly, I threw out the scales and am proud to say that this new year marked ten years since the last time I weighed myself. I refused to let the midwives tell me what I weighed during pregnancy, and it was so liberating. I’m slim now because I exercise (not obsessively), and try to eat healthily (sometimes!), but I’ll never be much thinner again because I know how miserable I was in reality.

But now being the proud parent of a baby girl, it terrifies me that she will one day see images of ‘thigh-gaps’ (not even a concept that existed when I was a teenager), protruding collar bones and glossy, airbrushed images of celebrities, and see those as goals. It’s made me even more determined to stay on track with my idea of a healthy body image, and banish weighing scales from the house forever. And it worries me that young women (or any women for that matter) that read this blog might be going through a similar thing that I went through.

So here are some myths that need busting, NOW.

1) Tall women are naturally skinny.

Um, no. We hopefully all know that this is bullsh*t. Not everyone has hollow legs. I know petite women who can do three rounds at the Carvery. I know tall women who sniff a cheesecake and get instant fat face. Give yourself a break. It’s fine for a 5’1 woman to be a size 16, and it’s fine for a 6’1 woman to be a size 16 as well.

2) ‘Weight’ matters.

Do your clothes fit? Can you climb the stairs without fainting? Yes? Chuck the scales out then. And NEVER compare your weight with a person of ‘normal’ height. Your skeleton is twice as long for a start. Your head is bigger. Your feet are massive. YOU WILL NOT WEIGH WHAT CHERYL FERNANDEZ-VERSINI WEIGHS.

3) Your hubby/boyfriend/one-night-stand should be bigger and taller than you.

Unless you’re particularly fussy or happen to use the Dutch version of Tinder, your other half could well be about a foot shorter than you. He might even — gasp — be thinner than you too. If you’re dating the kind of man who can eat KFC bucket after KFC bucket and still not pinch an inch, you may want to hate him at times, but if he loves you for who you are, then remember that kindness, good humour and excellent manners are much more important than the ability to make you feel tiny.

I’m really interested to know your thoughts on weight as a tall woman. Do you think your height has had a negative or positive affect on your attitude towards your weight and frame? If you’ve also suffered from an eating disorder, do you feel like your height was a factor?

You’re never going to feel ‘little’. You might rarely be described as ‘cute’. But you can be glamorous, statuesque, feminine, commanding and strong. Once you accept the fact that you’ll never have the build of your smaller mates, you can start loving everything you do have. Remember, life is short. Even if you’re not.

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Hey Leggy Lovely!

I'm Laura Schofield, a 6 foot tall, size 9 shoe wearing mama of 2. I started All the Tall things in 2010 as a resource for tall women to find clothes and shoes that fitted correctly, but it has evolved into a blog and community that examines every aspect of the Tall experience, including travel, dating and more emotive subjects such as discrimination and mental health. I've been on a bit of a "maternity leave" over the last couple of years, so I'm currently working hard to bring it back into 2019. Thanks for sticking with me and watch this space for more updates.